by Natalie OConnell

Created on: September 02, 2009   Last Updated: September 03, 2009

The best Christmas present I ever received wasn't what you would call a "typical" present.

It was Christmas of last year. My parents, my fiance and I went to my sister's house to celebrate their first Christmas with their baby boy, my nephew. I remember like it was yesterday. We woke up really early, probably about 6 a.m., and we came down and started opening our stockings together.

All of a sudden you could hear this cry coming from upstairs. Up my sister went and down she came with my 3 month old nephew. It was as if he knew we started Christmas without him and he wasn't tolerating it. At that moment, everything just felt right. Our family was complete. It made me realize that just him being there was the best Christmas present ever. This beautiful, special little boy means so much to us. Presents didn't matter, stockings didn't matter. It was being able to hold him, to kiss him and take care of him.

In an instant, we would stop opening presents just so that we could hold him for a little while and share the magic of a baby's first Christmas. He is so sweet and so innocent that he just lights up your life and he did Christmas Day, as well. This little boy had become such a large part of our lives that all that mattered was that he was there to share Christmas with us. He had found such a large place in our hearts. I remember sitting there on the couch, holding him, thinking that I couldn't imagine my life without him.

I've never been around babies very much before then and I found everything he did, every new thing he accomplished so fascinating and so important. The highlight of that Christmas, besides our family coming together to celebrate, was him. Feeding him, changing him, talking to him and holding him. It didn't matter if he needed to be fed in the middle of opening presents. Any of us would just drop what we were doing in a second just to be with him.

That Christmas, without a doubt, was the best Christmas ever. We had the best present of all with us and we couldn't ask for more. There is just something too magical to describe about a baby's first Christmas. I'll never forget that day for the rest of my life.

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